_______ ___ Luther o ________ __ PUBLlSJIING • Qtnurnr tu liJ4tnlnguul :!IntdJJlg Continuing LEmB UNO WBHRB MAGAZIN PUBR Ev.-LuTH. HOMILBTIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTBRL Y-THBOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol.xm April, 1942 No.4 CONTENTS Pqe Verbal Inspiration-a Stumbling-Block to the Jews and Foolish- ________ ____0 _____ __ ness to the Greeks. Tho Engelder 241 Leading Thoughts on Eschatology in the Epistles to the Thessalonians. Lo FuerbriDger 0 _ 0 __ 00 _ __ 00 __ 00 ___ 0___ 285 Luther: A Blessing to the Englisho W. Dallmann 273 _0 ___0_0_ Outlines on the Wuerttemberg Epistle Selections Z90 Miscellanea 30Z_0 _____ 0 _______ 0__ Theological Observer.-Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichillches 303 Book Review.-Literatur â !:In Predlger Muas nlcht alleJn wei Es 1st keJn DIng. d8II die Leute «leA. alto dais er die Schafe unter mehr bel der Klrche behaelt dam weJ8e. w1e lie rechte Cllr18ten aollen die gute Pre\UJt. ApoIogIe. An. H - IIeIn, I011dem auch daneben den Woel fen wehnm. dais aie die Schafe nlcht á und mit fal8c:her Lehre ver If the trumpet elve an uncertain fuebren und Irrtum eJnfuebren. sound, who shall prepare blmIeIf to the battle? -1 eM. 11:' PubHshed for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. is form parts here of Sieghardus, centurion under the cross, historical novel by novel the the Christ. The little than year some characters. say that endeavors follow the sacred narrative does not deny authen resurrection. Where scenes, personages, does to merely adds. story Judas he tries by assuming that Judas had and that thefts had the purpose of providing funds his Here the Christ reader. however, there are references payment Jesus for our sins through suffering. doubt Kagawa's treating life of Christ prove satisfactory. of reader always himself statements are are author's tion. deserving of commendation that Kagawa, as pro tagonist of social work, does out the social gospel this keeps away, one glad to and wrong notions of the social gospelites. The publishers say that peculiarly writing this heart, everything has been written about them, visited Palestine twice, has been a preacher Gospel for thirty-five years. feel undoubtedly present form novel makes it impossible to treat the subject with the reverence which we owe it. But all will agree, too, that if this method of setting forth the story Jesus, message salvation people who otherwise would not receive then the work may be wished Godspeed. W. ARNDT Book Review - citttatut Book Review - £iteratur eordbI PubJlshlnc HOUHI, 3558 S • .Jefterson Ave., st. Louis, Mo. 346 pages, 6x81f.!. Price, $2.50. 313 All books reviewed In this periodical IIlQ' be procured from through COnor Behold the Man! By Toyohiko Kagawa. Edited by Maxine Shore and M. M. Oblinger. Harper and Brothers, New York and London. Here we have a life of Christ which written in the of a novel. That of the Gospel-narrative, even parts in which Jesus is brought before us, are drawn on in works of fiction is not unusual. We may think the which is the title of a written the late Prof. William Schmidt. The work of Kagawa is different. It is a work of fiction, but the skeleton of the is to be vehicle of story of story, it is true, covers only a more a of Christ's public ministry, but some of the earlier events are brought in by way of reminiscences on the part of I am happy to Kagawa to and the ticity of the miracles of Christ and of His he per mits his imagination to create events, and he, as a rule, not do violence the Gospel-narrative. He does not change, but The of Iscariot to make more intelligible business debts his him with to satisfy creditors. and there crudities have entered in which should have been omitted. In first part the doctrine of the atoning value of the death of does not come before the In the second part, repeated to the which makes His I that method of the will After all, when a part what is written is fiction, the must be asking whether referring to Christ meant to present real history or merely the product of the imagina It is known a not set to preach in life of Christ. He is note, from the vagaries Kagawa was fitted for the of book because he knows the Gospels by has read important that has and of the Many of us will that to the life of Christ in the of a of the sweetest story ever told, will bring the of to it, Book Review McComb, read page "Among the lies following: Christ by substitution. "Another bit propa repeated statement Bible is true." that groping blindly and blind leading it is privilege have infallible practice, nor feelings, for unstable biased sin; But can the transmitted and being continually proved true. Therefore prejudices things." God-given real author." 73.) war propaganda examined and refuted "the statement that Christianity failure because has prevented war," Christians are Fundamentalists, McComb embraced spreading pre-millennialism: "God establish kingdom of this age," "World and until Christ on earth, and He will reign on earth after His return," "The day is coming banded together Antichrist, prince shall come Christ has the Church out of the world, will attempt Jews land. of Church. ENGELDER The Religions of Mankind. By Edmund Davison Soper. The Abingdon Press. 364 pages, 61hx8. Price, $3.00. presenting a book, which revised edition the author's monograph first published 1921 now enlarged partly cannot voice our disappointment the underlying principles of the book. fact that the author, at least tacitly, presupposes evolution vitiates his entire presen tation. His proton pseudos this, that the Bible not the absolute that Christianity absolute third, that he does not identify the Elohim of the Old Testament with Yahweh but his readers mind "that it by gradual and only:after a long development that the idea of what see it in Jeremiah and Isaiah." (P. 271.) have other queries on the margin the text on number of pages. The author states, for example: word 'false' is not to be used with reference to other faiths." (P. He rejects "primitive divine revelation." . , , I II 314 - Kiterntur God's Purpose in This Age. By J. H. D. D., Minister of the Broadway Presbyterian Church, N. Y. Fleming H. Revell Com pany. 93 pages, 5x71f2. Price, $1.00. We on 29: that can be positively identified as satanic war propaganda against the Lord Jesus and His people are the The idea of a vicarious atonement is preposterous." Against this lie we have on pages 33 to 51 a fine testimony to the deity of and to salvation of war ganda that can be traced directly to the Father of Lies is the oft that the not Against hear this testimony: "How thankful I am that in this evil world, where men are the are the blind, our to an rule of faith and even the Word of God. We cannot safely trust our own reason, for we do not know enough; our they are and by nor science, because it cannot tell us what we most want to know; nor the teachings of the Church, for the Church is not infallible. we trust Word of God, for it is God-given; it has been to us faith fully, it is our duty is to lay aside all concerning it, to study it, to receive the Christ revealed therein, and to obey Him in all "It is a book. God is the (Pp. 68, Other is is a it not converted the world nor "that the majority of hypocrites," etc. - Like most Dr. has and is does not promise to the heaven in peace social justice will not come reigns when the nations, under the the that after taken to destroy the in their own . . " Millennialism, too, is among the foes the TH. In review of this is a of in and and rewritten, we but deep at The an of religion, is is truth, his second, is not the religion, and his bids keep in was stages God became we We of a "The 22.) a (P.39.) He speaks .of the -- who of was on from wheat. of Mesopo medanism, really the standpoint absolute truth, make point men, persistence the Dallmann's religion, Rapids, pages, "sundry meditations opinions" which "deal successively with diverse apologetic Chapter charac more missionary endeavors the Jews. the enthusiasm, such passages Zoroaster own way, hear; and had opportunity . . .. other come today." (pp. 13, 18.) comparison to all half-measures. Both a hard the Book Review mteratut: 315- "unknown prophet" gave expression to the splendid universalism in the latter part of the book of Isaiah. (P.282.) He states: "One of the unfortunate [?] results the Reformation the emphasis laid orthodoxy." (P.332.) Yet the book has points of merit for every scholar who has a sound basis of Scripture truth and is able to sift the chaff the His brief treatment the various heathen religions, beginning with that of animism and passing through Egypt and tamia, Greece and Rome, the religion of Zoroaster, Hinduism, Buddhism, the religion of the Chinese, the religions of Japan, Judaism, and Moham present the salient points. Of course the reader is obliged to change the entire sequence of thought and instead of follow ing the author in his evolutionistic ideas, which are manifestly wrong from of the his starting the original adequate divine revelation, which in the ignorance and obduracy of their hearts, perverted. Interestingly enough the author himself furnishes plenty of evidence, not only for the existence of an underlying remnant of monotheistic thought in various religions, but also for the of the idea of a triad in connection with Supreme Being. Until we have, in addition to Battle of the Bible with the "Bibles," our own monographs in the field of comparative we shall be obliged to use books of this type, inadequate as they are. P. E. KRETzMANN The Art of Listening to God. By Samuel M. Zwemer. Zondervan Pub lishing House, Grand Mich. 217 5% X 7%. Price, $1.50. The opening chapter lent the title to the book, which presents and themes related to life, reading, evolution and revelation, the choir and the pulpit, missions and church leadership" (Foreword). The chapters vary greatly in value. One of the best is that on Evolution and Reve lation, which offers valuable material. 11 terizes Mahatma Gandhi's religion as far removed from Christianity. Chapters 13 and 14 are pleas for bringing Jesus to the Moslems, while Chapter 16 urges energetic among In a lighter vein Chapter 3 calls for the use of simple language in writing and preaching. The author's unionism is quite apparent through out book. His "Schwaermerei," finds expression in as: "Plato and Socrates, Buddha and Confucius and Ghazali and cried with Job, 'Would that I knew where I might find Him.' But there was no answer. How eager they were, each in his to yet they no adequate The word of the Lord came unto Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and John the Baptist and St. Paul when they were listening for it. In this way and in no does the Word of God On page 150 we find an interesting of Calvinism and Islam: "Calvinism and Islam have indeed much in common. Both are opposed compromise and were trumpet-call in times for hard men, for 'intellects that could pierce to roots of things where truth and lies part company.' virtue. "Calvinism They both Where M. Published sermons journal, printed clergy, we they they individuality in presenting the his congregation, stresses and sermons impression he instance, reason humanity people our ought, you and find solution troubles merely through capable is provide was expressed by 1 Book Review - £!itetatur816 "Intolerance is sometimes a The very essence and life of all great religious movements is the sense of authority; of an external, supernatural framework or pattern to which all must be made con formable. and Islam were neither of them systems of opinion but both were attempts to make the will of God as revealed (in the Bible ... or in the Koran) an authoritative guide for social as well as personal affairs, for Church not only, but for State. believed in election and reprobation, dependent on God's will." TH. LAETSCH God Meets Man. By O. A. Geiseman, A., S. T. D. by Ernst Kaufmann, Inc., Chicago. 255 pages, 5Y4X8. Price, $1.50. The first volume of sermons under this same title has sermons from Easter to Advent. This second volume presents from Advent to Easter. The two volumes thus cover the entire church-year. Three sermons on marriage and the family have been added. By including books of sermons in the review columns of our theo logical written and for the do not mean to relieve our preachers from intensive textual study and from preparing their sermons but to give them an opportunity to learn how other men preach, to wit, how they expound their text, what kind of illustrations use, how alert are to conditions under which men live so that they can supply the needs of their hearers, how they express themselves, etc. While every preacher should preserve his own originality and Word of God to he must beware lest his preaching become stereotyped. Studying the ser mons of other preachers will be helpful in this direction. Dr. Geiseman sin and grace, his make the that is not merely meeting an appointment when he stands in the pulpit but has a divine message as the needs of his congregation demand it. He says, for "The why is presently in so chaotic a state is not because of any one individual or any one class of or any one development in the realm of science, but because there is sin in this world. It is sin which lies at the bottom of all of humanity's . difficulties. "You and I cannot stand by silently and allow the fault for social problems to be placed on others. We must rather say that inasmuch as I am a sinner and you are a sinner and inasmuch as you and I do not do by fellow-men what we therefore I are, in part, the cause for the situation as it obtains in the world today. "But if sin is at the bottom of all of man's difficulties, then man will not a for his intellect or might of arms. When it comes to finding an answer for sin, we cannot look for it in man. All of us are by nature in bondage of sin. None of us is of gaining freedom therefrom by our own effort. Because this true, therefore it is the glory of Christianity to man with the answer which goes to the root of his difficulties and which gives a real solution. "This answer once the man who bridged the gap Book Review and Testament preacher when Jesus the of taketh close-lipped "Christians the they the world to them they should valuable. their hopes, desires; also why professed Christians sometimes are ready their Christians are the of the world. are asking world be them. isn't Jesus turns you morning, you inasmuch the world.''' Fuehrer. The Last Sermons. By Pastor Niemoeller. Corporation, pages, Price, For wishing inform himself on Pastor Niemoeller's witness and work, these (rather brief) addresses will no doubt prove valuable and The sermons appear had been delivered tempore or as they been down shorthand by listener. They be groups, one which resistance the government much Gospel-preaching and definite emphasis fide, especially in Reformation Festival sermon (Oct. discourse monday, May 17, 1937) Niemoeller confounds the Una Sancta with the Church ignores dividing lines between Lutheranism Calvinism. He belongs to confessional group of divines, desiring positive proclamation of central truths resisting the encroachments of the government on the domain of the special controversiae is nowhere clearly stated, manifestly because Niemoeller (carefully watched by the secret police) had to express himself cautiously. It will take some time after the war before the issue can be clarified. preface by Thomas Mann rather obscures the matter since is lacking in that objectivity which enables reader politico-religious situation in which Niemoeller played so prominent part. The book, presents important for study subject and will welcomed by all who wish know little more about Niemoeller commonly said about him in the press. J. THEODORE MUELLER 2itetntut 317- between the Old Testament prophet the New of the Gospel, that is to say, by John the Baptist, he pointed to and said, 'Behold Lamb God which away the sin of the world.' '' (P.142f.) Or Dr. Geiseman says, "There is nothing more tragic than for a Christian to be so and silent about his hope and faith in Jesus that people can do business with him for years without discovering that he is a Christian." (P. 162.) Or we read in another sermon, so commonly accept world's standard of evaluation. Instead of determining for the world what is truly valu able, allow tell what regard That explains why Christians frequently are so much like the worldlings in their ambitions, in in their why Christians fre quently emphasize the selfsame things which the worldlings emphasize. That explains to resort to the ways of the world in order to accomplish their desired goals and fulfil ambitions. . .. When behave that way, they not light They the to a light unto But that what said. Jesus to this and He says to as you believe in Him, 'Ye are light of the (P.1l3.) J. H. C. FRITZ God Is My 28 Martin Philosophical Library and Alliance Book New York. 294 5%X8Y4. $2.75. anyone to helpful. sketchy, as if they ex if had taken in some may divided into two in the political issue is hardly touched upon and another in which to in power seems to be the chief objective. In the former there is at times a on the sola so the 31, 1936). In the on "The Unity of the Church" (Whit visible and the and the German the of Christianity and Church. But the status between the two The it the to form a clear picture of the a on the whole, material the of a timely be to a Pastor than what is eighteen chapters, each packed with will inent part by and American history. compelling, the Pastors will find in abundant and materials This discussion of has value. Negro substance or scientific treatise value. propounds great Christ, in the spiritual realm, kindness with white congregation demands pastor pulpit no regulation either forbidding racial being what are, each cherishing its habits, idiosyncrasies, wisdom has established ! Book Review \lttcrntuc-318 Every Man's Book. By Francis Carr Stifter. Harper & Brothers, New York. 113 pages. Price, $1.00. The author of this volume is Editorial Secretary of the American Bible Society. In one brief but new and stimulating data, he tells of early translations of the Bible, of the singular inftuence of the King James Version, of the phenomenal J growth of translations of the Bible,in the nineteenth and twentieth cen turies, and of the great blessings which the Bible brings to all lands I where it is circulated, read, and believed. Readers be especially grateful to Mr. Stifter for those chapters in which he discusses the prom played the Bible in English Much of the material offered by the author is so recent, and his style is so refreshing and that the reader is kept spell-bound to the last paragraph. Though Mr. Stifter makes some statements to which we hesitate to subscribe and though we wish he had somewhere in the book developed more fully the way of salvation which Bible teaches, he has ren dered a noble service. this volume excellent for talks before organizations of their parish. The price of the book is remarkably low. PAUL BRETsCHER My Neighbor of Another Color. A Treatise on Race Relations in the Church. By Andrew Schulze. 147 pages, 8x51f2. Price, $1.00. Order from the Walther League Office, 6438 Eggleston Ave., Chi cago, Ill. a pressing problem scientific It offers anthropological and sociological information that bears on the relation between the Caucasian and the races in America. It quotes state ments such as these: "There is no reliable proof of innate differences." "The idea that any race has, as such, definable characteristics making it 'superior' or 'inferior' in and potentiality is a delusion without biological, physiological, other foundation." The also has great religious It and drives home the truth that before there are no differences of race, that a Negro Christian is there the equal of a Caucasian Chris tian, that the Negro Christian possesses all the spiritual rights and priv ileges which Christ bestowed upon all His brethren. And that means that the Christian of any race will treat the members of any other race, particularly the brother-Christians of that race, with love and and Christian respect. It means, too, that a will, as occasion it, have a colored in the of its church as a guest-preacher and, if the need arises, have a colored Christian receive the Holy Communion at its altar. It does not mean that the Church must establish mixed congregations. The Lord of the Church has left the ordering of this matter to the wisdom of His Christians. He has given or demanding it. And peculiarities they race having and own temperament, and Christian the present order. And in Christian love each congregation in serving ENGELDER writer tremendous results accomplished generalizations part suffice. Mission-festival for personal work our there very, very been 179 Price, Paton. 129 $1.00. Robert Livingstone, Johann Mackay, others, thirteen short There chapter on the need of Book Review - 2itetatut 319 gladly recognizes the New Testament law that each congregation has equal standing with the other before Christ. - Pastor Schulze has spent all the years of his ministry, eighteen, our colored churches, first in Springfield, lil., and then in St. Louis. He works in sympathetic understanding and Christian love and respect of the Negro. This book also gives evidence of that. Its purpose is to impress upon us our sacred obligations to our colored brethren. We bespeak for this schol arly treatise the kind and respectful consideration of the brethren, even though we do not agree with all of its conclusions and judgments. TH. Training Fishers of Men. By the Rev. Philip Lange. Published by Con cordia Publishing House, St. Louis. 20 pages, 4lhx6lh. Price, 10 cents. This is a tract which all our pastors should read and then act in accordance with its instructions. Why? Because it speaks of the duty of our lay people to bear witness of Christ to the unchurched. The of the tract says, "What could be if all members of all of our congregations would realize that they have a missionary call just as well as the pastor! . . . If the pastor can get the members of his congregation to a point where they are passionately interested in the salvation of souls, a mission revival is sure to follow." (pp. 5,6.) The pastor must prepare his people for such personal service. Pastor Lange says, "The annual mission festivals with their sermonic on the of visiting preachers will not The home pastor must do the work." (P.5.) preachers might well take note of this criticism: "sermonic generalizations." It need not be so. Such a for instance, as John 4:28-30, 39-42 speakstext, of personal soul-winning and its blessed results. Verily, the 70,000,000 unchurched people in our country, many or most of which are in terri tories where we have established congregations, offer much opportunity mission work. While this has been increasingly done by churches in late years, is much that has left undone. May Pastor Lange's tract be an added incentive towards a greater effort at evangelization. Some pastors and churches are doing it very successfully. Why not others? J. H. C. FRITZ Great Missionaries to Africa. By J. T. Mueller. 7%X5%. pages. $1.00. John G. By J. T. Mueller. 7%X5%. pages. Price, Both published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the first of these two volumes Dr. Mueller, in a very readable and inspirational style, tells briefly the life-story of such great missionaries as Moffat, David Ludwig Krapf, Alexander Mary Slessor, and biographies in all. is an introductory Christ in Africa and a second chapter on early Christian Africa, up to the Mohammedan conquest. We believe it would have made this series of biographies t I ,. J% "" b , 320 Book Review - SJiterotur more complete if the author would have found room to include the work of the Norwegian Lutheran missionary pioneer, HQIlS Schreuder, in Zululand, and the work of the American Lutherans, Morris Officer and IDavid Day, in Liberia.-In the second volume the .author retells in an interesting manner the story of John Paton, the apostle to the New Hebrides. Both our pastors and people will· find these books very much worth while. They can well be included in reading courses for mis sionary study groups. Unfortunately, the price of the books is high, considering the poor typography and thick paper, and in their outward form they cannot compare with similar books put out by our own pub lishing house at a considerably lower price. W. G. POLACK A Manual for Altar Guilds. By Carl F. Weidmann, A. M. Foreword by A. Wismar, Ph. D. 64 pages. Stiff paper covers. Price, 50 cts. Published by Ernst Kaufmann, Inc., New York and Chicago. In Part I the author discusses Altar Cloths, Altar Linens, Communion 'Linens, Ornaments of the Altar, Sacred Vessels. In Part II he gives guides for the work of the altar guild. In Part m he outlines the use of liturgical colors during the church-year. In addition to the definitions of terms given otherwise in the text, the last section of the booklet con tains a very usable glossary of terms. The author is sound in his liturgical views, and his very practical book is recommended heartily to our pastors, altar guilds, and all who are interested in liturgics. W.G.POLACK Fire Upon the Earth. By Bernhard Christensen. Published by Lutheran Free Church Publishing Company, Minneapolis. 256 pages, 51hx8. Price, $1.50. This book speaks of the eternal blessings which the Christian religion bestows upon the Church at large, the local congregation, the home, and the individual, and through which agencies it should exert its good influence in the world for the salvation of men. Its thought-provoking presentation lifts it out of the class of being "just another book." The author, Dr. Christensen, has taught at Augsburg College and Seminary in Minneapolis since 1930 and since 1938 is president of that institution. J. H. C.FRITZ BOOKS RECEIVED From Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich.: God Bless America and Other Sermons. By William Herschel Ford, D.D. 144 pages, 51f4X7%. Price, $1.00. The Only True Comfort. Eight Radio Sermons on the Fourteenth Chapter of John. By Rev. Benjamin H. Spalink. 70 pages, 5lJ4x7%. Price, 35 cts. Not Now, But Afterwards and Other Sermons. By James McGin lay, D. D. 147 pages, 51f4X7%. Price, $1.00. From Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, London, and Edinburgh: Youth Seeks a Master. By Louis H. Evans, D. D. 126 pages, 5x71h. Price, $1.00. From the Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati: More Devotional Talks for Women's Organizations. By Frankie Oliver Ivy. 108 pages, 51f4X71h.